Variation

Variation, in Music, a transformation of a melody by melodic, harmonic, contrapuntal, and rhythmic changes. The subject chosen is called the theme; it is first simply harmonised with or without an introduction, and then repeated in a variety of different transformations, and the variations collectively with the theme constitute the piece. Occasionally the different variations are combined by an intermediate passage; but generally each has its separate close, and the whole terminates with an extended and richly-developed variation, or a coda.